The Mask Falls Away — Washington Square

After Morris leaves, Catherine suffers one of the great private griefs of her life. She tells herself it may be only a lover's quarrel, yet she feels a mask fall from his face and knows he wanted escape. She waits at the window until dark, listening for a ring that never comes, then sees her father lift his hat to her with grave courtesy so incongruous it horrifies her. At dinner she hides her wound behind attention to his poodle stories, clinging to the hope that people do not change in a day. Mrs. Penniman, tactful for once, hovers and finally asks to help; Catherine fibs that nothing has happened and asks to be left alone.

Morris does not write. Catherine sends two brief, dignified notes begging for a sign she annoyed him; silence answers both. On Saturday Dr. Sloper tells Lavinia the scoundrel has backed out, pleased to have been right. Catherine keeps her composure in public, skips church, walks the city, and returns flushed with a secret errand.

When her aunt hints at separation, Catherine fiercely denies that the engagement has ended until Lavinia's circumlocutions force the truth into the room. Catherine learns Morris has left town, accuses her aunt of meddling, and asks whether Lavinia made the plot that drove him away. Mrs. Penniman tries to restore Morris with talk of noble scruple and paternal curse; Catherine sees the plan clearly and says she does not believe it. The chapter turns heartbreak into perception: Catherine is abandoned, but she is no longer naive about who helped arrange the stage.